Remarks by JC Harris
102 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 5
- Play at 1:35:45
“I guess what I'm getting at is that this provides a lot of certainty in terms of a lot of stuff. but not so much like the whole tree in lieu kind of a thing. Do you expect that to be folded into this or that's my concern is this being a get out of jail free card on any kind of future tree replacement, tree in lieu, that sort of thing? I mean if it is, it is.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:36:28
“I mean like on the whole Des Moines Street business park. We're just not going to replace trees.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:37:15
“And my other question is just, is there any kind of, you know, there are projects and there are projects. I mean, I mentioned the business park, and that really was a very long-range kind of a thing. Is it somewhat, is it typical to have some kind of sliding thing like... five years for one kind of project. I don't want to micromanage this, but I also have this vision of somebody signing something and then moving to Bali and 18 years go by. I'm just giving you the edge.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:42:35
“No, I'm just, if we're strictly in the question phase, then no, I will defer to the discussion phase, you bet.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:52:38
“I would move that this be remanded to a study session for a fuller tutorial. Apart from this, and I have any number of questions, this is too big a thing to drill into in this kind of format. Furthermore, just at a more fundamental level. Please.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:53:07
“Yeah. We should have a study session on this.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:53:30
“So it sounds to me like from the packet it says that it's you know, to make the area more developer friendly. And this is just more rhetorical. I see that it addresses a lot of the concerns of the residents. But frankly, we've had a very free and open doing it one at a time for a very long period. And I'm struggling to understand how this makes the area are projects any more developer-friendly? That's a serious question. But I definitely want more drawings and more information and so forth. I know residents do. But as to how it will draw more investment, I don't know. Thank you.”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 1:59:32
“Yes, it is a question. Okay. But that will not include the water quality grant, which will expire, correct?”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 2:01:10
“THANK YOU. IT ALWAYS FEELS TO ME LIKE SHIPS PASSING IN THE NIGHT, BUT I ALWAYS APPRECIATE THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. the people discussing flock, you know, it's one of those funny things in concert with the Citizens Advisory Board meeting. I was struck by the concerns over public safety in contrast with the budget, and we spend the highest as a percentage of any of the cities around in public safety. Chief says that crime is down, but It's really hard to get a sense of just what's really happening. I know, anecdotally, when I show up with my red hat at different places,…”
City Council · Aug 27, 2026
- Play at 19:39
“THANK YOU. I SERVE ON THE FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND Essentially, our entire task is to provide a budget letter to the King County Council, which doubles as a flood control district board. And it is a funny thing in terms of process in that we're required to, over time things have shifted, we're required to provide this budget guidance by the end of this month, but we don't actually get the budget until after. There have been a number of problems in terms of process since the Flood Control District was created in 2007 and it now faces a $300 million shortfall and The reason…”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 37:13
“Thank you. I didn't think I had any because, you know, my little speech about the flood control thing, I'm also on the RTC advisory. First of all, thank you for the connectivity, better connectivity to RTC. at KDM Light Station that's really good. We argue over moving things around, but that's a really good step. The late night step thing is good. My ongoing nag is if you could just hand out Orca cards or some kind of thing at the senior centers, City Hall, just pass them out like candy. And because people here were blessed to have the 635 shuttle, and it's a really good thing. I'm always…”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 39:26
“I was trying to give you a softball. I'm a big fan and, you know, especially adding the later. To me, it's not like 10 o'clock. It's not like super late. I mean, that added service is really good. So thank you so much for that. Thank you.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 53:09
“I get choked up every time you guys show up. I mean, literally, you're like the community centers and I just I don't like to do these little things like that, but you're it, and I can't say enough good things about, you know, with my kids and so forth. I can't think of a website or a communication system that would make people understand how much stuff you guys offer. I mean, it sounds like a late-night infomercial, but no, I mean, when I go down the list of stuff, that I've seen people do in events. You mentioned the museums. People learn to sew tools. I mean, it never stops. And the biggest…”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:09:43
“You said all the right things, and yeah, I can't tell you. I mentioned Reach Out Des Moines, and I just, I know that what you do is, yeah, I mentioned the library and that being the community center, but you can, you know, When I first moved here, we had this much tighter integration with the schools and the library and stuff. It was just a different generation, and I feel like you can bring that back a little bit. I actually have a, just, I'm going to ask if you really could change your email address just to junior. No, I mean, seriously, because the public, just for them to reach you, if…”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:10:35
“Yeah, no, but I'm just saying junior at desmoineslaw.gov. But other than that, no, man, go get them. Thank you.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:37:12
“Thank you. We've talked about lies, damn lies, and stats, but I don't know how much you can do about it, but I'm just struck going through this stuff by it doesn't seem to do a good job with gender in terms of breaking down crimes in terms of Am I missing something there? I would have thought that in these lengthy reports, just you would really want to zone in on, you know, victims and also just crimes based on, like, you know, that are happening in the home rather than – and, I mean, I understand you're dealing with a standardized process, but that would be just something that –”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:38:40
“It just doesn't. The other thing is just the public, when we talked about a couple of years ago, you're kind of the public. The problem is that you're doing a really good job. Crime is declining. And somehow a presentation has to happen that expresses more the value of officer welfare and just the long game. Because I'm not trying to tell you a thing, but every department talks about being down officers and so forth. And somehow you have to sell. the value of the officer's well-being and so forth to a certain extent. Take it away. I'm just saying I'm all for it. I'm just telling you that's…”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:40:30
“No, maybe I'm saying it backwards, but basically people see crime go down and then they will say, well, why should I pay more property taxes or whatever to hire more police officers? And so I'm just somehow we have to sell the notion of that it is worth doing things to, you know, make it improve retention and so forth and so on.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:00:38
“Yeah, I'm terribly sorry, but it's like 1,000 pages and stuff, and these may be incredibly silly, but just this – you're asking for a modification of our standard zoning, right? I mean, there are things apart from the, you know, what are the special items that are being, that are outside of just, you know, what wouldn't require the council to talk about this now?”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:09:48
“So maybe I can find the proper words, but what are the modifications to our standard zoning? Because the thing is, I think this is a deal where people are making everything about everything. And I just, if possible, can we narrow down to what is outside of, yeah. Does that make sense?”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:13:40
“Okay. And going back to the hearing examiner. Yes. That is.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:13:52
“Rather than if the agreement came to the council and we would have a first and second reading.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:18:40
“So when you say five existing angled spaces and five additional spaces, When you, the five existing are on Redondo Way, and then five, okay, the east-west.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:19:04
“Somehow. No, I'm not being difficult. I'm just trying to get a sense just.”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 2:21:12
“SO WHOEVER CAN PUT THEIR EAR MOVES ON. WHEN ANYBODY SAYS IN 2026 THAT THEY CAN'T DO BETTER WIREFRAME DRAWINGS WITH THREE, I MEAN, THERE ARE 17-YEAR-OLDS THAT CAN DO FLY THROUGHS AND I'M JUST SORRY. YOU KNOW, AND I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE EXPENSE, I'm sorry, that just doesn't do it for me anymore. You can just buy a Mac for $750 and free software, and you can do an illustration. And nobody wants to hold you to it, but my point is that I think you could address a lot of the heartburn that I have heard just by having better drawings. The public gets nervous. In fact, it…”
City Council · Aug 13, 2026